Parking lot, Rose Bowl Parade--Pasadena, California 1956

Robert Frank shot this photograph, "Parking lot, Rose Bowl Parade--Pasadena, California" sometime in the mid-twentieth century, using his trusty camera as a tool for exploration. I think about Frank, wandering through the aftermath of the parade, his eyes scanning the scene for a visual punch. He spots a figure sprawled out on the ground amidst scattered debris. What might Frank have been thinking? Maybe he saw in this scene a kind of raw, unvarnished truth, a counterpoint to the glitz and spectacle of the parade itself. The contrast between the order of the parked cars and the chaos on the ground is what grabs you. It's a photograph about seeing, but also about feeling, about catching a glimpse of something real in the middle of all the noise. This photo feels like a snapshot of the American experience. It makes me wonder what stories Frank hoped to tell through his lens.